Vaporizing apparatus



Sept. 24, 1946. 1w, MARTIN 2,408,084

VAPORIZING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 13, 1941 a Sheets-Sheet 1 fig. i

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Patented Sept. 24, 1946 VAPORIZIN G APPARATUS James Woodward Martin, Dallas, Tex., assignor to Lone Star Gas Company, Dallas, .Tex., a corporation of Texas Application September 13, 1941, Serial No. 410,766

Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in vaporizing devices, and more particularly to a vaporizer adapted for vaporizing liquefied hydrocarbon gases, such as propane, butane, proylene, butylene, etc., or mixtures thereof.

In my Patent No, 2,084,297, I disclosed embodiments of a vaporizing apparatus, and set out certain objects relating to the treatment of liquefiable hydrocarbons such as propane, butane and their mixtures. The present apparatus have the same objectives, and may be used in the handling of propylene and butylene which were not specifically mentioned in my patent. Another object of the present invention is to supply a vaporizing device that may be employed in a most efiicient manner for heating various liquids, including water, whether for hot water or for steam generation. Naturally, if the liqdid to be heated is not combustible, the fuel employed for heating can be supplied from an out-' side source.

My new vaporizer, or heat exchanger and combustion system has the advantage over the original ones, in that'it cansbe constructed separate from the liquid container,- and on a production line, using stamped parts and assembling such parts with a welding arc, gas torch, or by brazing or soldering, etc., or using castings or any other suitablemethod of construction and assembly. It will therefore be understood that it is a further object of this invention to supply a vaporizer that can be manufactured at less expense than the ones disclosed in my patent.

With the foregoing objects outlined and with other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described in detail, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view, partly in elevation, and partly broken away, of an embodiment of theinvention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged end view of a portion of the same, with the draft equalizer removed.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of an end plate forming part of the apparatus.

Fig. l is a vertical sectional view of a portion of a modification. 7

Fig. 5 is an end view of the same.

Fig. 6 is an elevation of an end plate forming part of the structure illustrated in Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view of another modification, in which the fuel employed for qsuing through the .burner 28.

heating purposes is supplied from an outside source. 7

The embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive is quite similar to the structures disclosed in my patent, but employs a heating device arranged at the bottom of the main storage tank. In this embodiment, 8 designates a main tank or container for any liquid thatis to be heated. If it is used for liquefied gases, it may be provided with a safety valve 9 and a fill valve In, thelatter being arranged in a suitable housing I l secured to the bottom of the tank. Vapor from the vapor space I2 of such tank can be discharged valve, will flow through a conventional regulator l5 for maintaining on the valved service line IS a reasonably constant pressure .of any desiredvalue. less than the pressure in the tank 8. A service safety relief valve I1 is interposed in the service line between the regulator and the service cock l8; and a pressure gauge l9 and removable cap 20 are preferably connected to a branch 2| of the vapor pipe 13. A pipe '22 having a valve 23 leads from the pipe 16 and branches out into a pilot tube 24 and a pipe 25; the latter leading to a thermostatically controlled valve or pressurestat 26 which controls'the. passage of vapor'to a conduit 21 leading toa main burner 28. nected to pipe I3, is a pressurestat, it will be understood that as soon as the pressure of the vapor in the pipe l3 decreases sufficiently, the valve between the conduits 25 and 2'!v will open, allowing vapor to flow to burner 28, sothat the flame from the pilot 29 will ignite the vapor is- .Obviously, the pressurestat or thermostat may be connected directly to the tank 8 to allow either the pressure or temperature of the liquid or vapor to be used to control the flow of vapor to the burner.

Toignitethe pilot, a spark-plug igniter, 30 is 7 provided, which, by means of a battery and spark coil (not shown), causes a spark to jum from the electrode on the spark-plug across the spark gap to the top of the pilot, so as to ignite the vapor issuing therefrom. Obviously, any other suitable safe means may be employed to ignite providing the heat to keep the safety device open and to effect ignition of the vapor as it'passes If the part 26, con

out of the burner, it also keeps the burner barrel hot, thereby maintaining a draft through the inside of the barrel itself. (The barrel is that portion of the burner into which the vapor discharges and in which the primary air and the vapor mix.) By so doing, and when a modulating or throttling type control valve, either pressurestat or thermostat, is used, and when this control Valve just barely opens or is nearing the closing off position, allowing but a small flow of vapor into the burner barrel, which flow has no velocity, said draft will cause even such a slight amount to rise to the combustion end of the burner barrel and ignite from the pilot. If this draft is not maintained within this burner barrel, heavy vapor (such as liquefied petroleum gas vapors) would flow out through the orifice in the lower end of barrel and accumulate in the bottom portion of the burner compartment as unburned vapors. In time, a suflicient amount of such unburned vapors will accumulate and become ignited from the pilot, filling the burner compartment or box with burnt gas and extinguishing the pilot. Without the heat from the pilot directed on this burner barrel to maintain this draft condition, other means must be provided to prevent the results mentioned.

Heat from the burners travels upwardly through a vertical stack or flue 3|, surrounded by a tubular insulation jacket 32 to prevent dissipation of heat. The flue has a beveled, upper end, and a baflle 33 is rigidly secured to the uppermost edge of the flue and functions to divert combustion gases leaving the flue, into a heat chamber 34, the top of which is formed by the bottom of the tank 8, and to facilitate the heating of the contents of the tank, the bottom of the latter may be provided with protuberances 35 which extend into the heat chamber. The latter may be formed by a tube of U-shaped crosssection, as indicated in Fig. 2, and the sharply bent portions of this tube may be secured to the bottom of the tank by lines of welding indicated at 36. Due to this construction, opposite U- shaped walls 3'! and 38 are spaced from one another to provide a U-shaped passagewa 39 through which air for combustion may travel toward the burner and be preheated on the way. The left end of the wall 38 (Fig. 1) terminates at one side of the burner compartment or box while the wall 3'! continues across the top of the burner box and is secured to an end plate of the housing I l. The portion of the wall 3! which extends over the burner box is provided with an aperture for the reception of the parts 3| and 32 so that combustion gases from the burner box are constrained to travel through the flue 3i and cannot reach the heat chamber 34 by passing about the exterior of the insulating jacket 32.

One end of the heating chamber is formed by a vertical plate 40 shown in detail in Fig. 3, and the upper curved edge 4| of such plate may be welded to the bottom of the tank 8. A flue 42 is cradled in the U-shaped tube and connected to the plate 40, and one end of the flue terminates at the outer end of the U-shaped tube and is located within a draft equalizer 43. The bottom portionof the flue 42 may extend into the heat chamber 34 and be secured to the top portion or wall 31 of the U-shaped tube, as shown in Fig. l. The draft equalizer is in the form of a vertical tube having end closures 44 and 4'5 which are held in spaced relation to the tube by means of brackets 46, to provide an air intake 41 and a gas outlet 48. Due to my construction, hot gases discharged into the stack 3| will induce air for combustion to enter the inlet 50 of the U-shaped tube so that it may flow into the air passageway 39. The gases in this stack are hot (somewhere around 2000 degrees) and hence extremely light in weight as compared to air at normal temperature, and their velocity is great as well as is their lifting power. The flame in this stack serves as a pump, pushing the products of combustion through the heat chamber 34, flue 42, and the outlet 49, and thence out through the aperture at the top of the draft equalizer, and at the same time sucks in or induces fresh air through inlet 50 and through the passageway 39 into the burner compartment.

The draft equalizer 43 serves to prevent any outside atmospheric disturbances such as windstorms or other storms, etc., from altering the direction of flow of the flue gases and the air and from extinguishing the pilot and/or burner flames.

The inner end of the heat chamber 34 is formed by an end plate 5! of the housing II, and such end plate is preferably joined to the tank by means of welding. Such end plate also forms a partition between the instrument compartment and the burner compartment, and in order to facilitate the removal of the parts 28, 29 and 30 as a unit from the burner compartment, these elements are mounted on a plate 52 that is detachably secured to the end plate 5| by any suitable means, such as bolts 53. To accommodate such procedure, the pipes 24 and 21 are provided respectively with union joints 54 and '55.

At this point it will be noted that the burner compartment may be provided with a window 55, and that the housing H has one or more doors 5! which may be locked to prevent unauthorized tampering with the parts which are arranged Within the housing.

As before stated the insulating jacket 32 is supported by the U-shaped' tube, while the flue 31 and its baille 33 are mounted on the insulating jacket and supported on the latter by radial arms 53 which are secured to the flue and rest on the jacket.

For the drainage of condensation from the chamber 34, a drain tube 59 extends downwardly through the burner compartment, and to prevent freezing of condensate in the tube during cold weather, the tube may be insulated as shown at 63 and extended into the ground (not shown).

It is believed that the operation of the apparatus will be obvious from the foregoing description, but it may be stated briefly that the heated gases resulting from combustion will flow from the burner 23 through flue 3! and heat chamber 34, so as to heat the contents of the tank, before the products of combustion are discharged through 42 and 43. Of course, the outgoing hot gases will also heat the incoming air travelling through the passageway 39. The element 26 will control the burner so that the burner will be ignited upon a predetermined fall of pressure or temperature of the contents of the tank.

In the structure illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, the tube 42 is not surrounded by the passageway 39 but merely in contact therewith. Where a greater amount of heating of the air for combustion is desired, the structure may be modified as illustrated in Figs. 4 to 6 inclusive. In this case, the U-shaped tube 60a will terminate at one end in a plate 6| that may be welded to the storage tank 62. A flue pipe 63 may be arranged within and be surrounded by an air in a take pipe 64, the latter being secured at one'end to an apertured plate '65 that is detachably secured to the plate 6| by any suitable means such as screws 65. The outer ends of the tubes 63 and 64 are closed asindicated at 61, and the flue 63 has an outlet sleeve 88, while the tube 64 has. an inlet sleeve 69. In this embodiment, the parts 63 and 64 may be removed as a unit to facilitate cleaning of the passageways through which the air and gases travel.

In Fig. 7, I have illustrated an embodiment adapted for the heating of various materials by fuel from an extraneous source. In this case, theheating and burning unit may be Welded to the bottom of the storage tank 70, and the fuel for combustion purposes will enter the heating unit through a valved pipe (I connected to branches l2 and 13, the former leading to a thermostatically controlled valve structure or pres- 'sures'tat 14 which has an element 15 extending into the tank; The instrument will control the;

being arranged so that said separating means forms a portion of the bottom of said heat chamber and the wall of said tank forms the top of said heat chamber; a stack establishing communication between said burner box and said heat chamber, said stack including a leg portion depending from said heat chamber into said burner box and terminating in an inlet, and a baffle in said heat chamber at the upper end of said leg portion for deflecting gases from said stack hori-,

zontally into said heat chamber; means for admitting fresh air into said burner box; and a burner in said burner box aligned with said leg flow of fuel through a conduit 16 to the main burner H, which fuel will be ignited by the pilot burner 18. e

In this embodiment, instead of supporting. the flue 19 by the insulating jacket 80, an elbowshaped flue may be used and its horizontal outlet portion 8| secured to the tank by a welded joint 82. Likewise, the type of flue having a bafiie at the upper end as shown in Fig. 1, may

be used and the bafile welded directly to the tank. With such arrangements, the heat from the flue will be directly imparted to the metallic shell of the tank.

While I have disclosed what I now consider to be some preferred embodiments of the invention, it is manifest that changes may be made in the details disclosed, Without departing from the spirit of the invention, as expressed in the claims.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. Heating apparatus comprising: a tank adapted to contain a medium to be heated; a casing at the lower side of said tank including a burner box and an elongated heat chamber above said burner box, said casing being arranged so that the wall of said tank forms the top of said heat chamber; a flue establishing communication between said burner box and said heat chamber, said flue including a leg extending into said burner box and terminating in an inlet and a,

portion extending into said heat chamber and terminating in an outlet; means for admitting fresh air into said burner box; a burner in said burner box aligned with said leg of said flue, whereby the products of combustion pass directly from said burner into said inlet of said flue, and means to prevent gases from passing be- 7 tween said burner box and said heat chamber around the outside of said flue.

2. Heating apparatus comprising: a tank adapted to contain a medium to be heated; a casing at the lower side of saidtank including a burner box and anelongated heat chamber above said burner box; means separating said burner box from said heat chamber, said heat chamber of said stack, whereby the products of combustion pass directly from said burner into said inlet of said stack;

3. Heating apparatus comprising: a tank adapted to contain a medium'to be heated; a casing at the lower side of said tank including a burner box and an elongated heat chamber above said burner box; a partition separating said burner box from said heat chamber, said heat chamber being arranged so that said partition forms the bottom of said heat'chamber and the wall of said tank forms the top of said heat chamber; a stack establishing communication between said burner box and said heat chamber, said stack being in the form of an elbow and including a vertical inlet leg portion extending through said partition and depending from said heat chamber into said burner box, and a horizontal outlet leg portion disposed in said heat chamber; means for admitting fresh air into said burner box; and a burner in said burner box aligned with said vertical inlet leg of said stack, whereby the products of combustion pass directly from said burner into said inlet leg of said stack.

4. Heating apparatus comprising: a tank adapted to contain a medium to be heated; a casing at the lower side of said tank including a 1 burner box and an elongated heat chamber above said burner box, said casing being arranged so that the wall of said tank forms the top of said heat chamber; a flue establishing communication between said burner box and said heat chamber, said flue including a leg extending into said burner box and terminating in an inlet and a portion extending into said heat chamber and terminating in an outlet; means for admitting fresh air into said burner box; a burner in said burner box aligned with said leg of said flue, whereby the products of combustion pass directly from said burner into said inlet of said flue, means for draining condensate from said heat chamber and preventing it from entering the burner box, and insulating means surrounding a portion of the means for draining condensate from the heat chamber.

5. Heating apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which a pipe leads vapor from the top portion of the tank to the burner, and means interposed in said pipe and responsive to a condition in said tank for controlling the passage of vapor to the burner.

' JAMES WOODWARD MARTIN. 

